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Wireless speakers and the iPhone 5 and new iPod nano

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Q: Does the Logitech Wireless Boombox work with the iPhone 5 and the new iPod nano?

- Chris

A: The short answer is yes. Technically, the Logitech Wireless Boombox (iLounge Rating: A) is simply a Bluetooth speaker and is not specifically designed for any particular media device.

In fact with the Wireless Boombox Logitech has dispensed with the 30-pin Dock Connector entirely, providing a 3.5mm audio input jack as the only wired audio connection. However, as the name implies, the Wireless Boombox is designed to work with a wireless Bluetooth audio source.

Bluetooth is a standard protocol supporting numerous “profiles” that define what features are supported and how devices communicate with each other. All of Apple’s Bluetooth capable devices and virtually all Bluetooth speakers and headphones use the Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) to communicate with each other and pass stereo audio information. Further, although the Bluetooth specification is regularly being updated to newer versions, such as Bluetooth 4.0 in the newer iPhone models, the chips used remain backward compatible with the older Bluetooth protocols, such as the Bluetooth 2.1 specification used in the Logitech Wireless Boombox.

Basically, what all of this boils down to is that any relatively modern Bluetooth-capable media player and set of Bluetooth speakers should have no problem communicating with each other. The iPhone 5 and the new Bluetooth-capable iPod nano are no different in this regard and should continue to work with any set of Bluetooth speakers or headphones in much the same way as any of Apple’s older iPhone or iPod touch devices.